Posts in the 'Good Governance' category
For better or worse, the year ahead brings a mix of reforms, political shifts and global milestones that will shape how urban sustainability agendas are governed and delivered. From changes to the structure and leadership of the United Nations (UN) ...
Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), India’s oldest municipal body, governs a sprawling and densely populated urban landscape where climate resilience is not just a goal, but a necessity. With much of the city lying barely two meters above sea level and ...
Launched at COP29 under the Subnational Climate Action Leadership Exchange Partnership, the Zero Emission and Resilient Buildings (ZERB) Accelerator brings national and subnational governments together to rapidly decarbonize and climate-proof the buildings and construction sector. Implemented by C40 Cities, World Resources Institute (WRI) and ...
An ambitious reforestation program in Dire Dawa’s watershed is helping to restore hundreds of hectares of farmland and reduce flood risk, while providing 7,000 new jobs and economic opportunities, especially for women and young adults. Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, is known ...
Challenging Discriminatory Cultural Norms to Build Fair, Resilient Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa
Social norms and gender biases are widely recognized as major barriers to the social and economic empowerment of women, people with disabilities and other underrepresented groups, including limiting their participation in governance and decision-making. For instance, in many parts of the world, domestic and caregiving ...
Thousands of local and regional leaders and their networks gathered in Brazil last month for the COP30 Local Leaders Forum in Rio and COP30 in Belém to respond to the call for a “COP of Implementation” — a COP that ...
Cities are on the front line of climate impacts. They are home to most of the world’s population and economic activity and generate the majority of global emissions. Yet they’re also hubs of innovation and implementation, putting them at the center of ...
Cities and states have aimed higher and moved faster on climate action than national governments. The reason is simple: To local leaders, climate problems and solutions matter because their constituencies are directly impacted by them. Extreme heat, flooding and air ...
Water is a lifeline for cities. Yet, in Addis Ababa, that lifeline is growing tenuous. Over the past decade, the city’s water supply has dwindled dramatically due to intense urbanization, lagging infrastructure and non-revenue losses, landscape degradation and the growing ...
In most urban planning meetings, stakeholder engagement begins and ends with presentations. Data is shared, reports are circulated and challenges are discussed. This format often misses fostering the hands-on participation needed to tackle the local realities of climate change. What ...
Nations around the world are ushering in a new decade of climate action through revised nationally determined contributions (NDCs), due this year. The urgency for climate action has never been greater, especially with 2024 marking the warmest year on record globally. While ...
When floods hit my hometown in Kenya last year, it was the poorest communities who suffered most. In Nairobi, where more than 3 million people live in vulnerable homes made of wood, sheet metal and concrete — many in low-lying ...
Nestled in the Andes, Bogotá’s mountainous landscape traps air pollutants, sometimes cloaking the Colombian capital in a dusty smog. The consequences have been severe. The city’s poor air quality resulted in an estimated 2,300 excess deaths in 2019. In 2023, ...
Building solutions for urban peripheries — the sprawling, poorly served, low-income informal neighborhoods on the outskirts of Brazilian cities — requires recognizing their value. Brazilian peripheries, while poor, often have knowledge, organizational forms and collective practices that are already helping ...
We know games are a powerful way to reimagine urban space and mobility systems. But what if cities started building more playful and accessible spaces inspired by the imagination of kids? That’s the question the New Urban Mobility Alliance (NUMO) asked as they planned ...
